, 1887-02-03
s?ECEGEE LGTEgATCRE.


: l.
POM Townsend, ". 7, Jan. 81.
DEAR LDwIN:-I have not yet got an
answer from you, 10 my last is'ter, but
thinking You might want to hear the
names L have given to my little puppy
dogs, l thought l would write 10 you
today. My dog Nellie was awful glad
10 see ne when I went home last time,
but the puppies, they was not glad at al!
because they had never seen nc before.
The growled at ne and looked awful
licked at he, but they did not scare nae.
n'cause they acre such little bits Of
.eeth that I knew tEay could Roy eat me
~, 'r bite ne veEy bad. Miles !uue
la.- IS Neli3s E.g. Ore OF the Eti!a
toSa locks ia@t ike Le~, aaI 20 I wi.
aaDc her af,eE her mother, oBiy 80 they
wont sat ;-,eir names miXed, ara forget
which name IS thcIr own, l viii change
!. htriy and call her Nelly Gray Then
LHoge = a white one I cal! Snowflake.
it has blaa', ears. 3nowhales don't
usually have black ears, Lut / can't help
that. They don't have ears 1T all-iI
taey did aaybe they would be black, l
don't know. Another one, l call black
eyed Susan. l call her that because she
has Dlack-eyes. and then she Is the right
kind ola dog TO call Susan. Then there
is another named Kitty Clyde. I don't
know just why call her that, orty | got
10 give her some name and maybe she
Will like That name as well as any other.
Don't you think so? If you know Il
better one. l will change her name.
There Is a little brown One which [ call
Bopeep, because he will have some sheep
90 tend some day, when he gets big. l
may have baen wrong Ia calling that be-
cause little Bopeep'' who lost his
sheep may have been girl Il was go
long ago tua: ! forget. but II you VIII
ask papa, and then tell me, | can !ian
change his nalae 10 something else. l
can cali him George Washington, be-
cause he never told lie, or some other
name just as good. The black one
call Jack Shepard. I guess he is named
all right. The little gray one I call
Romeo because he roamed away from
home one day and nearly got lost. Now
] got them all named aad I feel better
II they only grow up now to be good
dogs, aud not disgrace their names, [
will be happy, aud won't feel bad about
the time and troubl I took in finding
good names for them. One sbou!d be
very careful when they name theiE little
doEs to get good names for then. Some
where in yUur primm or in some other
book yGu will iiud where il says. "&ive a
dog bad name aud then hang biia."
Now l dou': want to hang these iitilg
Io@s, so try 10 give them good rames
Names they viii he proU! OF when they
grow up TO be papa and m&mua dogs
bye and bye. Names they Will not be
ashamed of, and then some day they
will be glad that Santa Claus put them
in my stocking on Christmas Eve, in
stead of into someone else's stocking
who would give them bad name and
then hang them. Don't You think so
too: Suppose had called them HeFu-
badeIa, aud Potipheggh and Jerusha
Jenkins and names like that, how bad
they might feel when they get old
enough to know, and have folks call
them by those names. Think now. If |
had called Romeo. Ichabod, instead OF
Romeo, how hs might have disliked me
for giving him that kind OF name,
when lie got old enough to know, what
WAS in q name, So remember, any time
you have anything TO give a name to, be
very careful TO give it the right kind of
q name, at the right time, aud in the
right place and then everything will be
al! right. II may then grow up with Il
good disposition and kind heart and
love you ever and ever so much for be-
ing 50 thoughtful, aud like some of the
good people in the story books 1t lnay
live in peace, die in Greece, and be
buried in a pot Of ashes"
Affectionately Yours,
UNCLE Ben.